Any announcement about a change to mental health strategy will attract considerable scrutiny. So one that intends to draw together service delivery and the more nebulous concept of wellbeing is certain to raise eyebrows. Nevertheless, the announcement of New Horizons, the government's replacement for the national service framework (NSF) for mental health, has been widely welcomed as an opportunity to promote prevention strategies as well as treatment.

With the NSF coming to the end of its designated 10 years, what exactly will be different? The Department of Health is calling New Horizons "a dynamic new approach to whole-population mental health", but what is different from what has gone before is its emphasis on the mental wellbeing of the general population. Timing has also proved to be important as the recession has taken hold and concerns have grown about the fallout in terms of people suffering stress and depression.

New emphasis

There will be "a new emphasis on public mental health", confirms Hugh Griffiths, deputy national director for mental health. "This will need to go beyond a focus on specific services and will require a greater level of cross-government thinking and working than before."

In advance of the complete official strategy being launched, charities and campaigners have so far been open to the signals being sent by the government. A spokeswoman for the charity Mind says it is "encouraging" that the government is now looking at mental health "more holistically" and "with a definite public health perspective at its core". And the Mental Health Foundation (MHF) argues that any reshaping of strategy needs to place health promotion in its "rightful place at the centre" of public health efforts. "A strategy that encourages people to protect themselves against mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety will be of immense benefit," a spokesman says.

There are, however, concerns that by pursuing its broader aims, the strategy might fail to address enduring problems within the mental health system. "Both consultation and the final strategy must address the needs of those who experience disproportionately high levels of mental ill-health, including older people, those living in poverty and people from black and minority ethnic communities," the MHF spokesman cautions.

Echoing such worries, Mind's spokeswoman says: "The biggest concern is that people will continue to consider it as solely a mental health issue that should be left to mental health specialists, rather than an issue that needs a broader, society-wide approach. Rather than being an isolated topic that sits with the Department of Health, mental health and wellbeing should be a priority across every relevant government department."

Whether the grand ambitions for New Horizons will materialise is still unclear, not least because funding will only get tighter and there is the prospect of a change of government. In the meantime, a series of "listening events" has taken place across the country since April, hosted by Phil Hope, minister for care services, and the national director for mental health, Louis Appleby, with the aim of hearing the views of professionals, service users and other interested parties including the voluntary sector. The last of these events, in the south-west, takes place today.

Responses from the events, along with the outcome of formal consultations over the summer, will feed into the final strategy, which is expected to launch officially by the end of the year.